Back to the Start
by acolonf6
Summary: They've done things in all the wrong order...so they're going to go back to the start, and try to do it the right way.    Alternates chapters between current day & flashbacks to the first time.
1. Prologue: Let's Take This From the Start

**A/N:** This story needs a Beta like whoa. Message me if you want in on that.  
>I'm calling this chapter a "Prologue" mainly because after this chapter the story will alternates chapters between current day &amp; flashbacks to <em>the first time<em>.

_Blanket Disclaimer: Blahblahblah, I don't own Glee or any of it's characters, blahblah, this isn't making me anything [except crazy], blah._

* * *

><p>She was supposed to be driving back home, back to Lima Heights [adjacent], but her head was so dazed from what had just happened that she'd put herself on autopilot as soon as she got behind the wheel...and her autopilot decided to take her to Brittany.<p>

She had already turned onto Brittany's street and was nearly to her driveway before she realized that this wasn't right. It only took her a split second more to decide that no, this _was_ right.

After the day she'd had, the one thing Santana needed more than anything else was Brittany.

She nearly lost her nerve and turned around again when she got up to the door, but she managed to ring the bell before she chickened out.

Santana knew Brittany was coming to the door several seconds before it opened, because she could hear the distinct _thumping_ sound made by Brittany bounding down the stairs, taking several steps at a time.

_How many times do I have to tell that girl she's going to hurt herself, yet again? _Santana thought as she listened for the telltale _clunk _that said she'd missed a step and fallen.

Luckily, it didn't come, and Brittany got to the door in one piece. She swung it open, with that big, beautiful smile on her face, ready to greet anyone on the other side with open arms, only to have her face fall when she saw who was on the other side.

"Why are you here? I thought we agreed that we weren't gonna hang out together this summer, that we needed some time apart?" Brittany looked so confused, and a little sad, but then her eyes grew wide, "Wait! Is summer over already? Lord Tubbington was supposed to warn me when I had to go back to school!"

"No! No, Britt, it's still summer, don't worry. Lord Tubbington hasn't let you down." Santana interjected quickly, before Brittany could get too worked up.

"Oh, good. Well then what's going on? Are you OK?"

"Honestly, not really. I don't really know. All I know for sure is that I need to talk to you."

Brittany looked conflicted for a few moments, but ultimately stood aside and let Santana in. "OK, but we talk down here. I'm not taking you up to my room."

Santana nodded and stepped into the familiar house. She'd missed this place more than she realized in the past month since school ended, since she and Brittany had decided stay apart.

Santana sat at the bottom of the staircase, with her head down, staring at her ankles. Brittany sat down next to her, and put a comforting hand on her friend's knee. "What happened? You know you can tell me anything."

Santana just nodded again, still not bringing her head up, still avoiding Brittany's eyes. "I know." She took a deep breath, and started in on her story.

"I've been going crazy all summer; sometimes I feel like I know exactly what I want, and other times I don't have a clue. I was trying to do all of this self-discovery and solitary thinking, but that wasn't working for me, so I decided that maybe instead of trying something new, I should just go back to what's worked in the past when I'm trying to forget my problems. So I went to the mall...to try and find the perfect guy for a worthless summer fling."

Brittany almost drew her hand away from Santana's knee, but before she could, Santana put her own hand over top of Brittany's to say _No, I need you here_.

"So I was sitting there in the food court with my minidress and my ice cream cone, trying to attract a man, but suddenly all the guys who were looking at me or coming up to me seemed incredibly creepy, and none of them seemed attractive. I finished my ice cream, got up, and as I was walking away, I saw someone else looking at me. A girl. She came up to me, and we started talking, and she was really nice, and the next thing I know we're making out in a hallway outside of the bathrooms."

Brittany's had started to tense up, her hand tightening, gripping harder and harder through the end of the story. She'd forgotten that Santana could feel it, since it was Santana's knee that her hand was on. "H-How was that?" she asked, shakily.

"It was great. It was kind of _really_ great. It felt so much better than any guy I've ever kissed before...but—" Santana trailed off, as she finally lifted her head and made eye contact with Brittany, "But it still wasn't anywhere near as good as kissing you."

Brittany smiled, her eyes lighting up, and closed the gap between her face and Santana's, kissing her full on the lips, enjoying the familiar taste of the Sweet Lady Kisses she'd missed these past few months. "Do you really mean that?" Brittany asked when they finally drew their lips apart, their foreheads still resting together.

Santana nodded, still a little breathless, "I've kissed plenty of boys, but I'd never really kissed another girl besides you before. I think...I think it really helped me to realize that its not just you, you know? I really do like _girls_, not just girl. But it also made me realize that I like you more than any other girl, and definitely more than any guy. I love you, Brittany."

She brought her face forward, trying to kiss Brittany again, but Brittany put her hands on Santana's shoulders and pushed her away, holding her at an arm's length.

"No," Brittany said, firmly. "I can't do this again, not like before."

Santana could feel her eyes start to sting, and struggled to keep tears from forming. "Why not? I—I thought you loved me, too?"

"I do, I really do Santana. But this is why we decided to take the summer off, I can't be with you just a little bit. All of the hiding and the lying, and the not talking about our feelings, it was making my boobs hurt."

"You mean it makes your heart hurt, Britt. Those are _chest_ pains, not _breast_ pains."

"Yeah, I get those too. It makes _everything_ hurt, so it's all or nothing. If we're going to do this, it has to be for real this time."

"What does that mean?" Santana was skeptic, but she'd do just about anything if it meant she could have Brittany again.

"No more sex, no more kissing. Not until you take me out on a real date," Brittany grinned. "I wanna be able to show off my amazing girlfriend."

Santana bit her lower lip. She hesitated, a million thoughts running through her head. Maybe she could so it this way. Maybe they wouldn't see anyone they knew. Maybe by the time school started again, she would be so used to holding hands with Brittany in public, she wouldn't care what their classmates said behind their backs.

Finally, she nodded. "OK, but we've gotten dinner at Breadstix a thousand times together, and we go to the movies all the time...or we did before this summer. What's going to make this a real date?"

Brittany looked at the ceiling for a moment, trying to think, the gears of her mind groaning. "Well, first off, we're going to get ready separately. Then you're going to come pick me up, and you're going to knock on my door instead of texting me from the driveway. And then I'm going to pay for both of our dinners, and you're going to pay for both of our movie tickets...and maybe I'll think of something else special too, to make it even more date-like." She ended with a mischievous smirk.

Brittany was actually _planning_ something. It didn't happen often, but when it did it was either completely disastrous or completely amazing. Santana ignored the bit of dread creeping into the pit of her stomach and decided that she couldn't wait to see how it turned out.

"OK, what time should I pick you up? And where are we going?" Santana stood up from the stairs, holding both of Brittany's hands and pulling her up, too.

"Breadstix. We'll keep it simple this time. I'll call and make reservations," Brittany said, letting go of Santana's hand. "You just worry about getting yourself pretty for your date and picking her up by 7." She punctuated her sentence by grabbing Santana's ass.

Santana jumped and giggled, surprised "Hey! None of that until after our first date." She gave Brittany a quick peck on the cheek before the other girl could stop her. "I'll see you tonight."

Santana walked back out the door and towards the car, and Brittany waved goodbye, staring after her, with a dreamy smile plastered on her face for several minutes.

When she came back to reality, Brittany pulled out her phone, scrolled down to the right contact, and dialed.

"Hi! Um, can you do me a favor tonight?"

"This isn't a favor of the sexual nature, is it? You know I don't do that."

Brittany giggled, "Of course not! I was wondering if you'd be available for a double date tonight?"

"You do know that '_double date_' implies that you bring a date too, right? Otherwise you're just a third wheel on someone else's date."

"Don't worry, I have a date to bring, too."

"Oh? I thought you were flying solo for the summer. Is it anyone we know?"

"People can't fly, I've tried that before. You just end up on the ground, all purple."

"I just want to make sure that its someone who will be OK with doubling with us."

"Oh, _that_ won't be a problem. Just be at Breadstix by 7:30 tonight."

An exasperated sigh came from the other end of the line "Ok, we'll see you there, Britt."

Brittany hung up and dialed Breadstix, "Hi! I'd like to make a reservation for tonight at 7:30. Party of four."

* * *

><p>AN: It get's better. I promise. Wow, that's a terrible way to start out a story. I'm just saying, I know bits of this seem a bit rough, but don't worry, because that stuff gets worked out for the later chapters...or it will once I finish writing them.


	2. Chapter 1: A Very Good Place to Start

_A/N: The working title for this chapter was_ "Adorably Disastrous Klaintana Date."_ That's pretty much all you need to know. Also, this is still unbeta'd._

* * *

><p>It was 7:34 and Santana stood with Brittany in the lobby of Breadstix. Their pinkies were linked, and their hands swung gently between them. The familiar presence of Brittany's pinky intertwined with hers felt comfortable and safe and <em>right<em>. They didn't seem to be drawing any attention, but Santana couldn't ignore the uncomfortable itch in her stomach that had appeared when they had arrived and Brittany told her that they couldn't sit down yet.

"We have to wait for the rest of our party." Was all Brittany would say. What had she done? Did she invite their parents? All of their friends? Was she going to force Santana to come out? Santana's mind was reeling with the possibilities of what Brittany could be planning.

The door to the restaurant opened and a familiar voice came through, "Sorry we're late, we forgot to coordinate outfits before our date, and Blaine came over wearing the exact same color scheme as I was. I had to change my entire—" Kurt cut off as he suddenly realized who his double date was with.

Santana dropped Brittany's hand and folded her arms over her chest as soon as she saw Kurt & Blaine come in, and she glared at Brittany.

"Well, this is certainly not what I was expecting." Kurt said evenly, once he had gotten over the initial shock.

"Me, either." Santana said, still not taking her eyes off of Brittany.

"Come on," Blaine said smoothly, slipping his hand into Kurt's. "Let's go get our table before they give our reservation away."

When they sat down, the conversation was mostly light small talk carried on by Brittany and Blaine and occasionally Brittany and Kurt, while Santana didn't say much of anything.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom before we get our food." Brittany said, and Santana felt a wave of relief at the excuse to get up from the table of awkwardness. Then it al went down the drain. "Santana, would you order for me if the waitress comes back while I'm gone?"

Dammit, the bitch had trapped her here.

"Of course, Britt. You want spaghetti?" She asked, doing her best to sound polite, with a broad, fake, smile plastered across her face.

"Yes, please!" Brittany's enthusiasm was, as always, completely genuine.

Once she was gone, awkward silence stretched out between the three people remaining at the table. The best case scenario in Santana's mind was that the silence would last until Brittany got back from the bathroom, but Blaine wasn't going to let that happen. She saw him give Kurt a light shove, and a pointed glance, obviously trying to communicate that Kurt should be trying to make some conversation happen.

_Blaine must have Porcelain whipped pretty well_, Santana thought, because Kurt was clearing his throat a few moments later.

"I'm impressed that you haven't managed to outwardly insult us yet this evening." Was apparently the most polite thing he could think of.

"Well, calling you 'Gayboys' would seem a bit odd, under the circumstances." Santana replied dryly.

Blaine's eyebrows shot up in surprise, while Kurt just rolled his eyes.

"Not to sound ungrateful for _that_ small miracle, but if you don't mind my asking, what exactly is going on here? I mean, most of Glee knew there was something going on between you two, but I think most of us assumed it was for the benefit of attracting boys."

"Yeah, well, it's not." Santana snapped, she could feel her sheilds going up.

"What is it, then?" Blaine asked softly, his head cocked to the side. His curiosity looked so earnest, that she felt herself soften again.

"Look, I love her, ok?" She said, staring at the table, not able to meet the eyes of the boys sitting across from her.

"Yeah?" Even without looking at him, Blaine's whole voice sounded like a smile.

"Yeah."

"But you and Brittany...this isn't exactly a new thing, right?" Kurt asked.

Santana shook her head.

"So?" Kurt prompted.

"So, what?"

"So what's changed? Why are you suddenly on a date with two gay boys instead of one straight one?" Obviously Kurt had heard stories from his step-brother about their Tricycle date.

"Things haven't been right with us for awhile, since before Artie really. At the end of the school year we decided that we should take some time apart and see how we feel when school starts again. But that whole _I'm in love with her thing_ kept getting in the way, so I was basically willing to do whatever she wanted to get her back in whatever she was willing to have me. What she wanted, is this," Santana gestured wildly to the table and the boys and the restaurant in general. "She's convinced that the reason we were having problems before is that we were doing things 'The Wrong Way.'" Santana made sarcastic air quotes. "She thinks that if we do this all in the 'right' order, things will work out better. She told me we have to go back, we have to start at the very beginning."

"A very good place to start." Kurt and Blaine said, practically in unison. God, they were sickeningly in love with each other.

"If you two start singing that song about the deer, I might have to go vom."

"What about deer?" Brittany said, sitting back down next to Santana. "I love deer. We found a baby one laying down by the side of the road once and I wanted to take it home with me, but my Mom said no."

"That's too bad, I bet deer make great pets," Blaine said. "You know, Audrey Hepburn kept a deer as a pet."

Kurt nodded in agreement, and slid his hand over his boyfriend's on the table. "That's true, she did, it's name was Pippin."

Santana slipped her hand into Brittany's, and suddenly Kurt & Blaine's overly cutesy antics were a lot easier to stomach.


	3. Chapter 2: Not Like Before

The first time there no first date. Not for the two of them together, at least.

Brittany's first date ever had come when she was 11; Santana's was when they were 12.

By the time Santana's first date came around, Brittany had been on dates with several boys they went to school with, but only a couple of dates with each, and then they didn't ask her out anymore.

Brittany looked old for her age, which the boys liked, but after spending some time alone with her, she didn't seem older than 11, she seemed younger.

Santana, on the other hand, took slightly longer to make the transition from "cute little girl" to the kind of girl you'd want to ask out. But when she made it, she made it _fast_.

To the boys in their school, it seemed as if one day, she was "Brittany's little friend with the braids" and the next day, she was "Whoa, who's that hot chick with Brittany?"

It wasn't long before an older boy had taken notice and asked her out.

Santana had been jealous of the attention Brittany was getting from boys, so when her turn came, she decided to take full advantage of it.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I know this chapter is depressingly short, but I needed to set up the flashback structure properly. No worries, some meatier stuff is coming soon. _

_In the meantime, I'd love to know what you think of what's been going on so far. What do you like? What would you like to see more/less of? **Constructive** criticism is always encouraged, as is blatant flattery ;)_


	4. Chapter 3: You Have to Earn It

First date kisses

After dinner at Breadstix, the two couples had gone to the movies. As promised, Santana bought both her ticket and Brittany's. They'd let the boys pick a movie, and Santana was sure they'd picked _Crazy Stupid Love_ just to torture her. Not that it wasn't an accurate statement, she'd done plenty of crazy and stupid things for Brittany.

She'd barely paid attention to the movie and based on the sounds coming from a few seats down, Kurt and Blaine weren't watching very closely either. The four of them sat near the back of the theater, but Santana didn't get any sweet lady kisses during the movie. When she'd placed a small kiss to Brittany's neck, just below her ear, during the trailers, Brittany had said that making out in the movie theater wasn't a first date activity.

Santana had sulked in her seat until a few minutes into the movie when Brittany reached over the armrest and took Santana's hand. By halfway through the movie, they were both sitting as close to each other as their separate seats would allow, with their hands still clasped in Santana's lap, and Brittany's head on Santana's shoulder. Even their ankles were hooked together. In all, Santana was pretty sure most of Brittany's body was on Santana's side of the armrest. She was pretty sure that this level of contact wasn't typical of a first date either, but she didn't say anything that would risk Brittany moving away even a little bit. After months of no physical contact, Santana every touch.

After the movie, the girls parted ways with Kurt and Blaine in the parking lot and Santana drove back to Brittany's place, where her parents were either still out or already in bed based on the fact that the lights were out.

The date had gone well, in Santana's opinion, but she wasn't really sure what Brittany thought. And even if it had gone well, she wasn't really sure what that meant for them.

She turned off her car, and walked around to the passenger side, to open Brittany's door for her. She had never done it before, but she'd never gone on a date like this with Brittany, either, so Santana decided that she should continue to treat this like a first date.

She held out her hand and helped Brittany out of the car, which made Brittany smile, and she didn't let go of her hand as she walked Brittany up to her front porch.

"I feel like I'm in a movie from the 50's or something. Is this where we say goodbye, or do I get a goodnight kiss?" She asked, hoping that Brittany couldn't hear how anxious she really was.

"I suppose you've earned a kiss." Brittany said with a smile. She leaned in and gave Santana the kind of sweet, chaste kiss that you would give to someone at the end of a first date. She couldn't remember the last time Brittany had kissed her like that. It was entirely possible that it had never happened before. It was nice, but she was left wanting more. So much more.

"This feels weird," Santana admitted. "We always hang out in your room after we go out somewhere, even if we don't do anything. Are you sure I can't come inside?"

Brittany glanced at the door, and then back to Santana, "You can come upstairs for a few minutes, but that's it. And you have to be quiet, in case my parents are sleeping."

Santana nodded and smiled, and mimed zipping her lips. She let herself be pulled up the stairs by Brittany, into her bedroom that held so many memories for Santana.

Brittany sat down on the edge of her bed, and Santana made a move to kiss her again, but Brittany held up her hand to stop her, and then patted the bed beside her.

Santana sat down on the edge of the bed, far enough away from Brittany that they weren't touching. "What, no more kisses? The date is over, can't we just go back to normal now?"

"Nope, we're going to talk."

"Why do we have to do that?"

"Because, Santana, real couples talk. They talk about their feelings, and what they're thinking. I told you I wanted to do things right this time. This is how it has to be, ok?" Brittany said, firmly.

"Alright," Santana said, sounding slightly defeated.

"And if you're good, maybe there will be more kisses afterward."

"Alright!" Santana repeated, much more brightly.

"So, how do you think our first date went? Are you alright, after having been seen on a date with me?"

"Yeah, I think I really am." It was the truth, she hadn't realized it until Brittany made her think about it, but she realized that she was. "I wasn't happy with you at first for springing the double on me, especially with another couple that's gay, but once I got over the surprise, I think having them there actually made it easier, and it definitely made it more date-like. After awhile I stopped worrying about what they thought about us, and what other people thought about the four of us, and I think I actually had _fun_. I never thought I'd have fun on a date that involved _Kurt Hummel_."

"Santana," Brittany started cautiously.

"Yeah?"

"You just called us a gay couple. You've never done that before."

"I did?" Brittany nodded. "I guess I did. Huh, progress."

Brittany leaned in to give Santana a quick kiss, and then pulled away.

"You're really going to make me work for these kisses, aren't you?"

"Maybe." Brittany teased, playfully.

"So, what about you? How do you think our first real date went?"

Brittany smiled. "_Best first date ever._" She started leaning in for another kiss, but Santana met her halfway, and Brittany deepened the kiss more than she was intending to.

Santana's lips curled into a smile, and she felt Brittany's do the same against hers. She put her hand on the back of Brittany's head and leaned back, bringing Brittany with her so that Brittany was laying on top of her on the bed.

She never would've believed it before, but Brittany's sweet lady kisses tasted so much better once they were earned.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Look! Progress!  
>Also, I need to stop using the phrase Sweet Lady Kisses. I'm going to attempt to use it less, but it's just such a perfect phrase; I love it. <em>


	5. Chapter 4: Sweet PreLady Kisses

"...and then he put his mouth on my mouth."

"And he _kissed_ you!" Brittany asked, incredulously. They were sitting across from each other on Brittany's bed, their legs crossed into pretzels.

Santana shrugged, "I guess so…it was mostly just him putting his mouth on my mouth."

"Isn't that all kissing is?" Brittany's brow furrowed.

"I dunno, I'd never done it before!" Santana said, defensively. "I just thought there was supposed to be something, you know, more? Like, in those movies you're supposed to _feel_ something, aren't you? You're at least supposed to move your lips around or something, aren't you?"

"How should I know?" Brittany said with a shrug. "I still haven't had my first kiss."

"Yeah, I know." Santana said, looking down at her legs, staring at the place where her ankles crossed each other.

"How come you got your first kiss on your first date ever and I've been going on dates with boys since last year and none of them have ever done more than hold my hand?" Brittany's voice wasn't tinged with jealousy, not really, it was just pure, innocent curiosity.

"Don't worry, Britt. It'll happen for you." Santana encouraged.

"Yeah, I guess so," Brittany sounded disappointed now.

"No, really!" Santana said, trying to cheer up her best friend. "Just like you kept telling me that I'd be asked on a date sooner or later. And you were right! So...I guess you just have to be patient a little bit longer, like I was." Santana grabbed Brittany's hand, and gave it a friendly squeeze.

Brittany had been asked out on her first date when they were still in 6th grade, but now they were 12, and Santana had recently stopped wearing her hair in braids all the time, and gotten her braces off, and gone shopping with her mom for new clothes and gotten a bras without the word "training" in front of it for the first time ever. These had all happened within a few weeks of each other, and then she had suddenly been asked on a date by a boy in the 8th grade.

Santana supposed it made sense that boys were looking at her differently now that she was growing up and "filling out" as her mom had put it, except that Brittany _still_ wore pigtails half the time, and boys had liked her since they were 11. But Brittany was also tall, and pretty, and had really nice blonde hair, so Santana supposed that made sense, too.

"I thought that getting kissed for the first time was supposed to be really important, but maybe I've been worried about nothing, because it doesn't sound that great, how you tell it." Brittany lamented, resting her chin in her palm.

"Are you really that worried about it, Brittany?" Santana asked, her head cocked to the side.

"I dunno. Kind of. Yes. I just don't really know what to expect and I don't wanna embarrass myself in front of a boy and look even dumber than I already am!"

Santana grabbed Brittany's hand again, and scooted a little closer to her. "Hey! You're _not_ dumb! People who call you that are just jealous of how awesome you are."

Brittany managed to give her a sweet but sad little smile that Santana knew meant _I appreciate you saying it, but it doesn't actually make me believe that I'm any more smart_.

"And, if you're really that worried, well, I mean, I guess I could help you out? Or something?" Santana was trying to figure out something encouraging to do or say. Maybe she could use the experience of her one-and-only kiss to be helpful.

"Help me? Like how? Like show me?" Brittany was interested, but didn't really understand how she could help. Neither did Santana, really, she just wanted to do _something_.

"Um, I guess so?"

"Like on your hand or something? Or on my hand? Or are you gonna just kiss me?"

"I guess I could just kiss you, and show you how it happened for me before? That way you won't be caught off guard your first time."

"But if you kiss me, that _will_ be my first time, won't it?"

"Nuh-uh!" Santana was positive, at first, but then she had to figure out why not. "It won't count, not really, because I'm not a boy. When you're on a date with a _boy _and he kisses you, that'll be your first kiss."

"Oh, OK," Brittany nodded in agreement. "That makes sense."

Santana had a lot easier time convincing Brittany than she did convincing herself.

"OK, so I'm gonna kiss you now." Santana warned, before leaning in. She did exactly what her date earlier had done, she just placed her lips on top of Brittany's.

They stayed there for a moment, with their faces awkwardly pressed together.

"Is this it?" Brittany asked, moving her face back a few inches.

"I dunno, maybe we weren't doing it right before?" Santana was quickly realizing that she needed just as much help as Brittany did.

"So what now?"

"I dunno, maybe we should try moving our mouths around some? Opening our lips a little bit or something?"

"OK," Brittany said, licking her lips, before bringing her mouth back to Santana's.

For a second or two, it was just like their first try, then Brittany and Santana both tried to move at once, and their lips slipped together, bringing their faces impossibly closer. Santana closed her lips just a little bit, and she felt Brittany breath in against her and...oh. _Oh_. So _this_ is what kissing was supposed to be like. This made much more sense, based on what her previous impression of kisses were.

She suddenly realized that her eyes had fallen closed at some point, and wondered how long they'd been like that for. She opened them to find that Brittany had closed hers, too.

Santana pulled back from the kiss, breathing a bit harder than she was before. She was embarrassed for a second, until she realized that Brittany was out of breath, too.

"I think that went better than the first time." Brittany said, happily.

Santana just nodded, not sure she'd be able to properly speak.

"Wanna go again?" Brittany asked.

Santana nodded again, and leaned back in for another kiss.

When Santana went home later that night, the two girls parted ways red-lipped and breathless and feeling _much_ more prepared for their next dates.

* * *

><p>AN: So this was our first real taste of flashback!Brittana. I hope you liked it! Can I just say, that being 21, trying to regress back to a 12 year old is super hard, and then trying to write a couple of twelve year olds making out? It feels super skeevy. I'll have to work on feeling like less of a creeper when writing future chapters, because it'll only get worse from here.

Also, don't hate me if updates start getting way more scattered. Labor Day Weekend was awesome, but I have to go to class tomorrow, and do homework, and go to Quidditch practice.


	6. Chapter 5: Where Do We Go From Here?

_**A/N:** So originally this chapter and chapter 7 were supposed to be all one chapter, but then this one started getting longer than I wanted it to be, and I thought about splitting it in two…but then I realized that if I did that, I would have to put another flashback chapter between them, and then the flashback chapter just started writing itself and I was like "Whoa, this is a thing that needs to happen." And _THIS IS WHY I AM IN DESPERATE NEED OF A DAMN BETA_._

_Also, trying to figure out the limitations of Brittany is really annoying sometimes. I decided that she can drive, but Santana is one of the only people willing to get into the car with her behind the wheel. She's also really terrible at parking and anything involving reverse. I also decided that with the help of autocorrect, she can text properly spelled words, but she doesn't use punctuation of any kind._

* * *

><p>Over the next week or so, Brittany and Santana went on several more dates. They traded off with who got to plan the date, and who picked who up, and who paid, and it was going better than any relationship Santana had ever been in before, even with Brittany. They hadn't progressed past kissing, but she supposed Brittany would let her know when she'd earned a further base.<p>

Since their first date, they hadn't run into anyone else they knew, and as far as Santana knew neither Kurt nor Blaine had told anyone they'd doubled, which meant that no one outside the four of them knew that she and Brittany were dating.

Overall, the biggest difference in their relationship this time around was that they were talking _constantly_. Before they would talk about Cheerios, and Glee, and whatever boys they were publicly dating or privately hooking up with, but _now_? Now they talked about each other, to each other. They talked about how they felt about the relationship overall and about specific dates. They talked about what they liked, and what they didn't like. They talked about what they wanted, what they needed. It was weird, and it was occasionally uncomfortable for Santana, but it was better than any alternative she could imagine.

It took her awhile to admit it to herself, but it was better than the friends-with-benefits relationship they had before.

Santana hated it when Brittany was right.

Well, she hated it when Brittany was right and _she_ was wrong.

Santana loved when Brittany was right and other people were wrong. It was pretty much one of her favorite things in the world.

Another thing that Santana hated was when Brittany was being secretive. She hadn't been this secretive since she was planning the surprise double date. Santana knew even less about her date tonight than she did about their first date. For tonight, Brittany was the one driving, Brittany was the one paying, and Brittany was the one sending cryptic text messages. "_Dress nice but still casual_" OK, what does that mean? A nice top with jeans? A sundress? A sundress with sneakers? Before Santana had a chance to reply, a second text came. "_No dresses no skirts no heels_" Santana briefly considered wearing her Cheerio uniform just to punish Brittany for being so annoyingly vague, but she ended up going with a short-sleeved blouse, faded cut-offs, and flip-flops. When Brittany came to pick her up, she was wearing a sleeveless shirt with jeans and sandals, so she figured she'd done alright.

"So are you going to tell me what we're doing tonight? What's with the dress code?"

"Nope, you're just going to have to see."

Santana let her frustration show through just a little bit too much.

"What's wrong? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course, I trust you, Britt, I just don't like surprises."

"My last surprise turned out alright in the end, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess I did. I just don't like being in the dark."

"Oh, you're not afraid of the dark, are you? It might be kinda dark where we're going tonight."

"Not literal dark, Britt, I don't like not knowing what's going on. I'm not afraid of the dark."

"OK, good. We should get going then. We don't want to be late."

Santana's mind was racing as she got into Brittany's car._ It's going to be dark, and we have to be on time. Dear God, what has this girl gotten me into?_

After Brittany started the car, her bra strap fell off of her shoulder. The strap was lime green. Santana recognized that bra. It was green and white leopard print. It also clasped in the front. That should have been exciting, but it only served to terrify Santana even more. Just what exactly was she going to have to do to earn that bra?

After five minutes of driving, Santana noticed that Brittany had a blanket and a tote bag in the back of her car. It looked vaguely like picnic supplies, but why were they having a picnic at night? And what was wrong with the park just down the street from her house?

After ten minutes of driving, Santana realized it seemed like they were on their way to a nearby town that was slightly larger, and therefore slightly less ultra-conservative than Lima. It also had a nicer selection of restaurants. Hopefully that was why they were going there.

After 15 minutes of driving, Santana saw a small sign posted on the side of the road, and she would've sworn that her heart stopped.

"Brittany?"

"Yes, Santana?"

"That sign back there. That's not where we're going tonight, is it? Please tell me we're not going to the park."

Brittany frowned, "I'm not supposed to lie. Lying is bad."

"_Shit._"

_7 PM IN HARDING PARK_

_ONE NIGHT ONLY_

_$5 ADMISSION_

_LGBT FILM FESTIVAL_

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN**:__Weekend! Happy Days are here again!_

_Things that delayed the posting of this chapter:_

_-Having to actually open a textbook & read it for a class_

_-Having to actually go to the classes I was reading for_

_-Running up and down all of the stairs in a stadium. Twice._

_-Going to work_

_-Playing Quidditch with the Giant Squid in during a lightening storm._

_-Happy Hour! _

_-Reading other people's fic_

_-My ridiculous need to have the next 4 chapters complete before this one goes up. (The good news is, this means this whole set is already written, and I'm moving onto the next First!)_


	7. Chapter 6: I Was Not Expecting This

Brittany, Santana, and several other girls from their grade were at a friend's birthday party. The birthday girl had turned 13, and was having a sleepover.

Once the hostess' parents had gone to sleep, the conversation had quickly turned to boys.

The conversation started out about boys in their school, boys they'd dated, boys they wanted to date, but before long one girl announced that she had recently fallen _passionately_ in love with Heath Ledger, after having seen _10 Things I Hate About You_ on TV.

"Oh! I think my sister has a movie with him in it!" The birthday girl went running to her sister's room, and came back with a DVD with two men on the cover.

"_Oooh_! It has Jake Gyllenhaal in it, too! I love him!" One of the other girls exclaimed.

That settled it, they were watching this movie with the two hot men on the cover.

Once the main plot of the movie had gotten started, it became clear that most of the girls in the room were _not_ expecting this. Santana was just trying her hardest to not spend all of _Brokeback Mountain_ looking at Brittany. She wanted to gauge Brittany's reaction to what they were seeing, but she was also terrified of what she'd see. She was even more terrified of what they other girls at the sleepover would think if she were caught staring at another girl while there were two boys kissing on the screen.

Once the movie ended, it was clear to Santana that there were a few girls at the party who were trying to hide the fact that they thought what they'd just witnessed was frankly pretty damn hot. The general consensus, however, was that sort of thing was _gross_ and _wrong_ and just _not_ acceptable.

She hadn't expected any better, but it was still disheartening to see right in front of her face that most if not all of her peers would condemn her if they knew what she had been doing with Brittany; especially if they knew how much she enjoyed it.

The rest of the girls had fallen asleep, but Santana couldn't. Something was bothering her, like an itch at the back of her brain. She knew what it was, but she wouldn't let herself think about it. She just stared at the ceiling, wide awake. Apparently, she wasn't the only one.

"Santana?" Came the small whisper from beside her.

"Yeah, Britt?" Santana whispered back, without even turning her head.

She heard a rustling of the sleeping bag next to her as Brittany turned on her side toward Santana. "What we're doing...it's not like in the movie, is it?"

Now she turned her head towards her friend, even though it was too dark to see her. "No, Brittany, why would you say that?"

"Well, it's just that they were, you know, _kissing_, and doing other things, and they're both boys."

"So? That doesn't have anything to do with us." She said, stubborn and resolute.

"Yeah, but they were lying about it. And they had wives and kids and stuff, just like we still date boys, and then they lied about it. And then they got into trouble for it when people found out," The pieces Brittany had been struggling to fit together finally clicked into place. "Santana, _we're_ not going to get into trouble like that, are we?" Brittany suddenly sounded terrified.

"They didn't get into trouble until people found out, right?"

"Right."

"And we're not going to get found out, right?"

"Right, but what if—"

"Because _I'm_ not going to tell anyone, and I know _you're_ not going to tell anyone, right?"

"Right," Brittany sighed.

"Besides," Santana said, settling back down into her sleeping bag signaling that their conversation was over. "We're just kids, we're not _married_ or anything. We're just practicing. We'll stop before we have husbands and kids of our own and things."

"I guess that makes sense." Brittany sounded quelled, as she settled back into her own sleeping bag.

Neither girl slept well that night.

* * *

><p>AN: Pretty much the moment I imagined this group of 12/13 year old girls accidentally watching _Brokeback Mountain_, I realized that not writing it would just be a crime. I'm being kinda vague on the timing of this, because I couldn't figure out exactly when that movie would've come out on DVD. Also, just so you know, for the purposes of this Fic I'm operating under the assumption that the girls were juniors at the Junior Prom.


	8. Chapter 7: Taking Steps

They parked a few blocks away, and then carried the blanket and tote to the park with them. They saw several other same-sex couples that seemed to be walking in the same general direction, and groups of friends who didn't seem to be split into couples, and even a few straight couples. There seemed to be more and more of them as they got closer to the park. Couples holding hands with each other without fear of getting slushied or thrown into a dumpster. Brittany reached out and took not just Santana's pinky, but her whole hand in her own.

It felt safe here, when they were with "their own kind," shielded from judgment or retribution, but Santana still wondered how long it would be before she could walk down the halls of McKinley like this without being terrified of what lurked around every corner.

They had walked most of the way there in silence, but when they had nearly reached the park, a thought occurred to Santana. Not a thought she liked.

"So, how did you hear about this thing? Did someone...reccommend it to you?"

"Blaine told me about it!" Brittany proclaimed, enthusiastically, as Santana's heart sunk. "He said that he wanted to take Kurt, but they had other plans for tonight, so he asked me if we might be interested in going." Santana was so happy about that news that she nearly missed the next thing out of Brittany's mouth, "You know, I keep forgetting that we're probably the only other gay couple that they know, too. We really should try to spend more time with them."

Santana wasn't too fond of that idea, but she smiled at the kindheartedness that Brittany relentlessly showed. "Maybe we can double again sometime soon," Santana allowed.

When they got to the park, they found an empty spot for their blanket in the middle of a sea of people who were all either like them, or who at the very least would be accepting of them, which was an amazing feeling. They only had time to watch one full film, a movie called _Heavenly Creatures_, before they had to leave in order to make it back in time for curfew.

The movie was good, the movie was _great_, actually, but what mattered to Santana about the date was the way Brittany lay with her head in Santana's lap, and the way she idly played with the frayed edges of Santana's cutoffs as Santana stroked Brittany's hair while they watched the movie. And the way no one bothered them through any of this.

When they got up to leave, just before they got out of the park, Santana grabbed Brittany's other hand and kissed her full on the lips. It was the most public kiss they'd ever shared.

"And what was that for?" Brittany asked with a smile.

"Because I wanted to," Santana said with a shrug. "Because I can."

Brittany squeezed Santana's hand just a little but tighter as they walked back to the car.

* * *

><p>When they got back to Santana's house, Santana's mother was in the living room watching television on the couch.<p>

"Oh, hello girls. Are you spending the night tonight, Brittany?" she asked casually. They'd been friends for so long, none of their family members suspected anything.

"Not tonight, Mrs. Lopez." Brittany said with a smile that betrayed nothing of what was actually going on.

"We're just going to hang out in my room for a little bit before she has to go home. Is that OK, Mom?"

"Sure, honey. And Brittany, don't be a stranger; you're always welcome here. It feels like forever since you've stayed over."

_That's because we're not having sex again yet. _

It was always a little bit awkward talking to parents like this, pretending like everything was normal and fine, when you were about to make out upstairs, but there was an extra layer of awkwardness now that they were trying to be a _real_ couple. Real couples told their parents they were in a relationship. They both knew they weren't ready for that step yet, though.

When they got up to Santana's room, she immediately locked her door, and then turned and grabbed Brittany by the hips and pulled her in for a kiss. Brittany giggled; she always liked that. After so many years together, they knew all about what the other one did and didn't like.

Brittany, in response, grabbed Santana by the hips, spun her around, and practically threw her onto her bed, just the way Santana liked. Brittany then climbed onto the bed over top of her, so that their bodies weren't actually touching at all. She had a knee on either side of Santana's hips with her feet straight up in the air, and a hand on either side of Santana's neck. She smiled down at Santana teasingly, then finally leaned down and and pressed just her lips to Santana's. She deepened the kisses gradually, until Santana threw her arms around Brittany's neck and her legs around Brittany's waist and brought her down to her.

Still kissing her fiercely, Santana's hands traveled from Brittany's neck, down her back, and down to the bottom of her shirt, where she slipped her hands up under Brittany's shirt. She paused for a second for Brittany to give some signal that this wasn't OK, but it didn't come. Santana's hands made their way back up Brittany's back, bringing the shirt with it. Brittany broke away from Santana just far enough, to get the tank top over her head. Santana leaned up to reach Brittany's lips again, but Brittany instead reached down and took off Santana's shirt. Santana was suddenly glad she'd worn a nice bra. She hadn't been expecting this when she'd gotten dressed.

Brittany brought her lips back down to Santana's, and she briefly thought that shirtless making out was the only new step she was getting tonight. The lime leopard bra doesn't lie, though. It wasn't long before Brittany's hands were sliding up Santana's ribs towards Santana's bra. She made a little noise of appreciation when Brittany reached her destination. _There_ was a feeling she'd missed. Brittany had smooth soft hands, and her fingers were nimble and well versed in the ways of Santana's body.

Santana took her hands from Brittany's back, and opened Brittany's bra in the front one-handed without even having to look at what she was doing. Brittany shrugged it all the way off, and...there was another thing she'd missed...well, two more things, actually.

Santana flipped them over so that she was now on top of Brittany, and in a better position. Brittany was biting the corner of her lip, trying not to express herself too loudly, knowing Mrs. Lopez was still right downstairs. She just looked so cute, trying her hardest to not make any noise, Santana suddenly wanted to make it even harder for her.

She moved her lips away from Brittany's face, and started kissing down her neck, all the way down her chest and stomach until she got to the top of Brittany's jeans, which she knew Brittany wouldn't let her do anything about tonight. She then started making her way back up towards Brittany's face, going slower this time, paying special attention to her favorite parts.

Brittany laughed and happily kissed Santana on the lips when they were face-to-face again, and then reached around Santana's back to unhook her bra, as well.

* * *

><p>Later, before Brittany left, when they were getting their clothes and hair resettled, she asked Santana, "Did I surprise you? Or have you been expecting this?"<p>

"I'd been expecting it a little bit when I figured out what bra you were wearing, and then spent the rest of the night trying to figure out if you'd worn it intentionally." Santana answered honestly. "I was surprised when I saw the bra, though."

Brittany, smiled, and opened her mouth as if to ask another question, but Santana cut her off. "Was this going to happen no matter what, or did I do something specific tonight to earn it?"

"If you didn't freak out and leave, this was pretty much guaranteed. I was on the fence when you saw where we were going. You didn't seem to happy about it. But you turned it around in the end."

"Oh? What did I do?"

"You kissed me. In public. You weren't afraid of anyone there. I know it probably won't happen in Lima anytime soon, but it was a good step."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"If I _did_ kiss you, right in the middle of Lima, tomorrow, would you be OK with it?"

Brittany's face scrunched up adorably in concentration, "I dunno, I guess...maybe? I've been waiting for you to be ready for all of those steps, and I guess I figured once you're ready I'll be ready by then?"

"And if the day comes where I'm ready and you're not?"

"I'll tell you."

"Good. You've done plenty of waiting for me, I'm more than willing to wait for you." Santana kissed Brittany once more in the privacy of her own room, and then opened the door, to where the world was waiting. They weren't ready yet, but Santana was getting more and more confident that one day, she would be. One day _they_ would be ready. Together.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Ohhey, look, Brittany has insecurities about this relationship, too! Yay feelings! And talking! And boobs!_


	9. Chapter 8: A Little Further

"He keeps trying to stick his hand up my shirt. Have any boys done that to you yet?" Brittany asked.

"No, not yet, have you let him?" Santana tried to sound merely curious. She didn't want some big dumb guy's meaty hands pawing at Brittany like that.

"I keep swatting his hand away, and he hasn't tried to like, force past me, or anything yet, but he still keeps _trying_."

"And you haven't let him yet?" Brittany shook her head. "Why not?" Santana asked, refusing to allow Brittany to hear her relief.

Brittany shrugged, "I dunno, I guess I just don't get the appeal." As she said it, she looked down at her chest and poked herself in the boob a couple of times, watching it push in and then bounce back. "I mean, what's the big deal?"

"I don't know," Santana admitted, tearing her eyes away from Brittany's chest & looking down at her own. She guessed she saw the appeal, kinda, but wasn't really sure _why_, or what to _do _about it.

"I mean, I guess I get that a guy would be into it, but what do I get? I don't understand." Brittany sounded hopelessly confused.

"We could try it!" Santana said, slightly louder than she'd intended to. She'd been struck by the sudden realization, and the idea wanted to make its presence known, forcefully.

"_Try it_? Like with the kissing?" Brittany asked, sounding unsure.

"Yeah, I mean the whole point of that was to practice, you know, for the real thing, so that we would know what to do and what to expect when the real thing happened, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So doesn't it make sense to prepare for this, too, so that we'll know what we're getting into?"

Brittany's mouth twisted around as she tried to figure out if she thought this did make sense. In the end, she nodded. "How do we start?"

"I have no idea. Shirt on or off? Bra on or off? Do you want to go first or should I?" Santana was trying not to let _all_ of her insecurities show through, but a couple slipped out nonetheless.

"I dunno." Brittany was trying to think of something, _anything_ that might be helpful. "He doesn't usually try it right away, he waits until we've been kissing for awhile, and then he tries to make a move."

"OK, so how about this, we both take off our shirts, then we start kissing like normal, then when we're both ready, we can try it?"

Brittany nodded, and started taking her shirt off, and Santana did the same. Brittany's bra was pale pink with little flowers on it, while her own was plain blue. The girls had been friends for years and had changed their clothes in the same room countless times, but this was different. She tried not to stare at her best friend's bra, and decided the best strategy was to make sure it wasn't in her field of vision, which she accomplished by moving towards her and kissing her.

The sudden sensation of her bare skin against Brittany's was exhilarating. She was almost disappointed for a moment when she realized that in order to get a hand between them they'd have to move their bodies away from each other, even just a little bit. She missed the contact as soon as it was gone, but soon she'd managed to snake a hand between their bodies and press it into Brittany, overtop of her bra.

Brittany made a little noise that Santana didn't recognize, and pulled her hand back like she'd touched a hot stove, afraid she'd done something wrong. But Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and put it back where it was, and made the noise again.

Brittany then put her own hand on Santana's breast, still over the bra, and Santana realized that _yeah_, that noise had been a good noise, because this was a good feeling.

Knowing how it felt on her, made her a little braver with her own hands on Brittany, trying to figure out what would coax more of those little sounds out of her.

Santana was spending the night at Brittany's that night, and by the time they decided it was time to go to bed, the bras still hadn't come off, but both girls had figured out how to make each other make all sorts of new noises.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: **Most common typo I've made so far in this story? _Santata_. I swear, I do it at least once per chapter. I think I've managed to find & fix them all. _

_This will probably be the last chapter I post till the weekend. I know it's short, but I hope it'll be enough to hold you over._


	10. Chapter 9: In or Out?

_**A/N:** So I planned on getting further than this before the premiere and this all gets Jossed to Hell, but real life took over. I'm really not 100% ready for this to go up, but I want to get as much of it up before PPP airs. If you're super lucky, I'll get another one up tomorrow before I get to watch the premiere. _

* * *

><p>"You know who I miss?"<p>

"Who?"

"Ms. Pacman"

"Ooh, and how exactly do you plan on earning Ms. Pacman?"

"I don't know," Santana said, and turned in her chair back towards her computer.

They were spending a lot of time hanging around each other's bedrooms lately. That aspect of their relationship was getting more and more like it had been before, which was a bit worrisome, but they were still going on dates regularly and they were still talking about their feelings all the time, so overall things were still going pretty well.

Confining themselves to their bedrooms had become a matter of necessity in the past week or so, due to how much time was spent shirtless and braless when they were around each other now. They hadn't progressed further than that, but they were openly discussing how to go about taking the next step.

"Ok, I think I know how I can earn Ms. Pacman," Santana said hesitantly, looking at her facebook.

Brittany walked over to Santana's computer, and looked at the screen over her shoulder.

"Are you sure? That's a pretty big step."

"Yeah," Santana swallowed hard. "I'm sure. Are you?"

"Yeah, I think I'm ready."

Santana clicked the button, and committed.

**Santana Lopez** is _**attending**_** Glee Club Pool Party!**

Santana and Brittany held hands as they walked up the driveway to Rachel house. They hadn't seen most of their Glee friends much over the summer, and they hadn't really wanted to tell the whole crazy club that they were together now, but they decided they should just get it over with.

Brittany stopped for a second, and Santana felt the pull on her hand as she tried to move forward. She took a step backward, and looked at Brittany, who suddenly looked slightly scared.

"Hey, are you ok? We don't have to do this if you're not ready. We can just let go of each other's hands and go as friends; no one will know the difference." Santana hoped she sounded comforting, but now that she'd gotten herself prepared, she really didn't want to go back.

"No, I'm ready. We need to do this. Just—" she hesitated, trying to phrase it properly. "Can we just go easy on Artie? I don't want to flaunt that we're together too much. He took it really hard when we broke up."

"Of course," Santana leaned in and kissed Brittany on her cheek. "I love how considerate you are."

"I like being the considerate one. I wouldn't be good at being the mean one. If anyone tries to say anything bad to us, I get to leave that to you."

"If anyone says anything today, I'll shove their heads in the pool filter." Santana said, sounding much more confident than she felt.

Mike and Tina were playing Chicken against Rachel and Finn when they first came in, and Puck was having some sort of cannonball contest with Lauren. Artie was sitting on the side of the pool with his legs in the water, and his wheelchair was sitting next to him. Mercedes and Quinn were sunbathing in lounge chairs, and Blaine was trying to coax Kurt from out of several layers of sunscreen and umbrellas and hats, apparently trying to convince him that a few hours in the sun wouldn't permanently ruin her porcelain skin.

Kurt gave them a knowing look when they walked out onto the pool deck, and Blaine actually winked at them, but no one else seemed to notice any difference in the girls at first.

The girls took off the sundresses they were wearing over their bathing suits, and got in slowly at the shallow end. Santana was just enjoying standing so close to Brittany while they were both wearing so little (even if they were in the middle of nearly a dozen other people), when Puck swam over to them.

"Ladies," He greeted them with a slight leer. "Would either of you be interested in being my partner for Chicken? I wanted to play when the game started, but Lauren says she'll only play with me if I'm on top."

"_Wanky_," Santana narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "But that's way more than I ever needed to know about your sex life with Zizes."

"I think I'd rather be Santana's Chicken," Brittany says before Puck has a chance to comment. "Or would you be my Chicken?" Brittany turned to Santana, trying to grasp the rules of the game, despite the fact that they'd both played before with previous boyfriends.

"You know, we have enough experience with pyramids that we could probably take most of the other couples here, no matter who was whose Chicken." Santana said with a joking smile.

Puck groaned, "I'll never get to play if you are a team!"

"I can be Lauren's Chicken if you really want to play that badly!"

"You'd better be a good partner, Barbie" Lauren said, suddenly appearing behind Puck. Santana couldn't figure out how someone so big could move so swiftly.

"Am I a good partner, Santana?" Brittany asked.

"The best," Santana pressed a quick kiss to Brittany's temple before turning to Lauren and telling her "If you drop her, I will end you."

Still, no one noticed anything was different. Was everyone just oblivious, or had they already accepted Brittany and Santana being together?

Santana and Puck quickly toppled Rachel and Finn, and Rachel threw some sort of Diva fit which Santana ignored as both her team and Brittany's closed in on Mike and Tina. Tina got a terrified look in her eyes, and leaned down to whisper something in Mike's ear; they promptly forfeitted the game.

Then, Lauren turned towards them with a murderous look in her eyes, while Brittany, atop her shoulders, just smiled sweetly.

Santana nudged Puck in the side with her heel, and then bent down and said, under her breath, "Put up a good fight, but we're gonna throw this."

"What? You're crazy." Was Puck's indignant response, but throw it they did. And Lauren threw Puck. Apparently it was a celebration of some kind, but after winning, she picked up her hulking, muscled boyfriend and threw him across the pool like he was a rag doll. He came up with both fists in the air, apparently into it. They were a weird couple, but whatever, they worked.

Brittany had been deposited on the side of the pool before the Puck-throwing had occured, and was now sitting on the side near the shallow end with her legs in the pool, much like Artie had been earlier. He'd gotten Quinn to help him move when the Chicken game started looking intense, and was now sitting under an umbrella near Kurt.

Santana ducked her head under, and swam underwater towards where Brittany was sitting. She popped up out of the water less than a foot in front of her, and Brittany looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled.

"I didn't see you coming, you surprised me." Brittany said, moving her a little further away from each other.

"Good surprise? Or Bad surprise?" Santana asked, standing directly in front of Brittany, between her legs, with her stomach pressed against the side of the pool, she wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist, which was directly in front of her thanks to the height difference provided by the pool.

"Good surprise. Always a good surprise," Brittany promised quietly, her legs coming back together, so her ankles hooked together behind Santana's back, and she leaned down and kissed Santana on the lips, still brief and relatively chaste, but still deeper than they'd ever kissed so publicly.

When their lips broke apart, they were mostly just staring into each other's faces, both with goofy grins on their faces, limbs still entangled together. It was quieter, though. The loud and boisterous Glee clubbers had been suddenly hushed to sharp whispers.

When Santana got over her terror and turned to see their faces, everyone was looking at them with various degrees of shock, confusion, and approval painted across their faces.

Finn (confusion), was the first to break the silence, with a very eloquent "Wait, are you two kissing each other, like, _not_ just for guys now?"

"I don't think it was ever _really_ just for guys, was it, Britt?" Brittany shook her head in agreement.

That was all that was said, perhaps all that needed to be said, until several hours later they Glee-clubbers were ravishing the dessert table that Rachel's dad's had set up.

"Brittany, tell your girlfriend to stop hogging all the m&ms!" Tina called, indignantly.

Brittany walked over to where Santana was seated in a lounge chair, holding the bowl defensively. She held out her arms, and Santana handed over the bowl with a scowl. Tina quickly snatched the bowl from Brittany, who sat down with her legs overtop of Santana's, and her arms around her neck.

"You're my girlfriend." Brittany whispered into Santana's ear. No one had ever called them that before, and they'd never used the label for themselves. They'd been hovering in that weird space in the threshold of the closet door, where they weren't actively hiding, but they weren't really _out_ either. They'd been hesitant to use any sort of labels for what they were, but Tina had said it for them. Having someone else break the ice for that term had taken all of the pressure off. As soon as the words had left her lips, it had made perfect sense. _Yeah, that's what we are. Girlfriends_.

At the end of the night, before everyone left, someone (Rachel) thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of everyone trying to fit into the hot tub. The pictures turned out terribly, and the plan mostly only resulted in getting several people who had mostly dried off all wet again.

It was late when they left, but Santana had driven Brittany there, so she had to drive her home as well, and they at some point decided that Santana should probably just stay the night at Brittany's house. At this point, it would probably raise more suspicion to have Santana drive herself all the way home this late at night.

When they got back into Brittany's room, Santana was damp, and physically and emotionally exhausted. She just wanted to flop down onto the floor – or Brittany's bed, if she was lucky – and go to sleep. Brittany, however, seemed to have a different plan.

She took off the damp dress she was wearing as a cover-up, and looked down at her damp suit. "Drier," she asked, pointing towards her warm bed. "Or wetter?" she finished, pointing in the other direction, towards her bathroom.

Santana smiled and picked up her towel from her tote bag, "Wetter; _always_."

Brittany stepped into the bathroom, and Santana followed her in. Brittany leaned into the shower and turned on the water, before leaning back out and taking off her bikini. Santana did the same, as Brittany stepped into the shower in front of her.

Every bit of Brittany's body was smooth and firm and defined and _perfect_. Santana would never get tired of admiring it. It sent a special thrill through her this time, though, because it had been so long.

Santana cocked her head to the side and stared at her girlfriend's ass, "Oh, Ms. Pacman, how I've missed you" she said quietly before stepping into the shower after Brittany.

Once they were clean and dry once again, they lay snuggled together in Brittany's bed, enveloped in oversized t-shirts. It had been established that nothing more than sleep would be happening in bed after what had happened in the shower, and this was easier than someone sleeping on the floor.

Santana was drifting towards a heavy restful sleep when she heard Brittany's quiet voice, and felt its vibrations rumbling through her chest where her girlfriend's head lay.

"You know, I never really got the phrase 'coming out,' because it doesn't really feel like coming out, it felt like letting them in. Letting them in on our secret, yeah, but also letting them into our lives and our hearts just a little more. We're trusting them with something important, and maybe if we let them into _our_ lives and _our_ hearts, they'll let us into theirs, too."

"Mmm, yeah," was all Santana could say, before succumbing entirely to a deep and heavy sleep. There in Brittany' arms, her sleep that night was more truly restful than she'd had in ages.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** So this is my first attempt at writing most of the other characters, and I don't think I have all their voices down yet, but hopefully it was OK. And we got to see Santana initiate emotional steps! Next chapter you;ll get to see Brittany initiate taking another step physically for the first time! Yay balance!_


	11. Chapter 10: Don't Worry About That

"Look at my fingers! They'll never unprune, will they?" Santana said with frustration.

Brittany was staring at her own fingers, a look of deep concentration on her face, "I don't like prunes, they make me feel funny. These look more like raisins. Raisins are good."

It was the summer before their freshman year of high school, and they'd just gotten back from swimming at a local pool for several hours. Well, most of the time had been spent sunbathing, and flirting with boys who admired their bikinis, but towards the end they'd gotten into the pool. They swam around aimlessly for awhile before getting roped into playing a game of Chicken with some other kids.

Santana wasn't very good at being aggressive, and she didn't think she'd do very well. Brittany hadn't fully understood the rules of the game, and an older girl had shoved her down pretty quickly. Brittany looked so confused and sad when she came up, that Santana had felt a sudden surge of protectiveness towards her best friend, and had told the guy whose shoulders she was on that they were going after _that_ team next. Being aggressive was far easier than Santana had ever thought it could be, and after toppling the older girl who had defeated Brittany, Santana had turned out to be a fierce competitor for the rest of the game.

After the game ended, Santana decided that it was probably time for her and Brittany to go home, back to Brittany's house.

Now that they were back at Brittany's, alone in their bathing suits, Santana was doing her best to not seem awkward. In the time since they'd first ventured towards second base, shirts and bras had both come off, and both girls had let their dates sneak their hands under their shirts. The girls had both agreed that boys had _no_ idea what they were doing. They hadn't progressed further than that, either with boys or with each other.

Brittany sat on the edge of her bed to further examine her fingers, but quickly jumped up again when Santana scolded her.

"Brittany! You're all wet, you can't sit on your bed like that in your wet suit." As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to take it back. What exactly had you just told Brittany to do?

Brittany didn't seem to see that line of reasoning, though. She just said "Oh, you're right. My mom says I should take a shower whenever I come back from the pool, because if I don't wash all of the chlorine off of me, my hair might turn green." She scrunched her nose and added,  
>"I don't think I'd like having green hair."<p>

Santana kept her feet planted, and waived her hand towards the bathroom, afraid of what she might do if she moved, "Well go take a shower then."

Brittany stayed where she was, too, "What about you?" She asked. "You're all wet, too. And we don't want your hair to turn green."

"Don't worry about my hair turning green. I can take a shower after you, though."

Brittany cocked her head to the side in curiosity "And what are you going to do while I'm in the shower? You just said no sitting on the bed. You're not just gonna stand in my room the whole time."

"What do you want me to do? Sit on the bathroom floor while you take a shower?"

Brittany blinked in confusion...only it wasn't confusion, not her normal confusion anyways. She understood what was going on perfectly, she understood everything but Santana. "After everything we've done, we can't take a shower together? Why draw the line there?"

Santana didn't have an answer for that one, and after a few moments of her mouth hanging half open, trying to decide whether she had an argument, Brittany grabbed her hand and dragger into the bathroom.

She closed the door behind them, and took off her bathing suit top, and then took off Santanta's. She turned around, took off the bathing suit bottoms and got in the shower, and Santana followed suit after a moment.

At first, Santana thought their shower was going to be fairly tame. Most touching was of the "can you reach this spot on my back since you're right there?" sort. But then Brittany threw Santana against the wall of the shower, pressing their bodies together, and kissed her. Hard.

Somehow, Santana found her hands on Brittany's ass. Her bare, soapy, surprisingly slippery ass. Her hands slid around, and she giggled. Santana Lopez actually _giggled_. It sounded strange coming out of her; she hadn't made the sound it so long, but it just bubbled up out of her so genuinely. Until, that is, Brittany's lips moved to Santana's neck, the giggled turned into a moan. She attempted to flip them around, so that she was in control, like she had so many times before on dry land, but she nearly slipped and fell, nearly brought Brittany down with her, and then the giggles were coming from both of them. This time, Santana was the one who stifled the laughter with a deep kiss.

By the time they finally got out of the shower, Brittany legitimately feared that her skin would never unprune again. Santana reassured her that they would, as they dried off and out on dry clothes. They had had sleepovers plenty of times before, but this was the first time they slept in the same bed. They didn't even really talk about it, Santana just sat on the edge of Brittany's bed while they were talking, and before long they were both under the covers.

A few minutes after they turned out the lights, Santana asked the question she'd been turning over in her mind for hours.

"Brittany?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you know you have a mark on your butt? I thought it was dirt or something at first, but it wouldn't come off."

"Oh, is that why you kept rubbing at it?"

"Umm...yeah..."

"It's just an ugly blobby birthmark. My parents told me it's been there my whole life."

"It's not ugly and blobby, it's shaped like Ms. Pacman."

"It is? The one with the bow?"

"Yep. Bow and all. I'll have to show you sometime."

Brittany woke up the next morning to Santana drawing on her ass with a pen. She was so proud that she'd outlined the mark and filled in the details to the point where Brittany could recognize the character.

Brittany laughed, took the marker away from her, and started searching Santana's body for marks she could make her own.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** I am not capable of using the term "Bikini Bottom" without hearing it the Spongebob narrator's voice. I try to avoid this whenever possible._

_Off to watch Purple Piano Project, now. Buh-bye!_


	12. Chapter 11: Standing Up

_**AN:** So believe it or not, I did not totally forget about the existence of this story, I just got crazy busy with a bunch of shit you don't really care about. Then recently, I discovered some free time and went to go work on this story again, only to find that I'd written two chapters that I never uploaded. *fail* So I'll be uploading those two over the next few days, and then hopefully more new chapters will come soon. _

* * *

><p>After the party with New Directions had gone so well, Santana and Brittany had gotten a little braver. They started going on more dates in public in Lima, and even shamelessly made out in the back of a movie theater. In all, they hadn't run into any trouble, until one night in Breadstix when they were spotted by some classmates.<p>

A couple of jocks from the McKinley Hockey team saw Brittany and Santana sitting at a table while they were waiting for their table to be ready. They'd never really talked at school, but the guys decided to come over anyways.

They didn't even bother introducing themselves before sitting down, one sliding into the booth next to Brittany, the other next to Santana.

"Good evening ladies," the one who was sitting next to Santana leered. "How are we doing tonight?" They were leaning all over the girls, either oblivious or ignoring the looks of obvious distaste being shot at them by both of the girls, whose date they had intruded on. They guys were huge and smelly and overbearing and _boys_. Santana had been spending so much time with Brittany, who was all lovely and lithe and delicate, that she'd almost forgotten how gross boys could be.

"We were doing a lot better before you two got here." Santana shot back at him, hoping he could hear the venom dripping from her voice. Across the table, the other guy had wrapped his arm around Brittany, who was trying to scoot as far away from him as possible.

"Oh, c'mon, we know you two," He said, bringing his mouth down to Brittany's ear he said low, but still loud enough for Santana to hear, "Always up for a good time."

Santana banged her fist down on the table hard enough to make sound that made both guys jump.

"I _am_ always up for a good time, but I don't think any time spent with either of you would be any good." Brittany said in a mock-innocent voice. Santana could tell she was trying to diffuse the situation before Santana started threatening the guys with razor-blades.

The guy sitting next to her grabbed Brittany's arm roughly and said "Don't be such a tease. Stop acting like you don't wanna come out with us, you dumb slut."

Suddenly, the knife from her silverware was in Santana's hand, and she was practically brandishing it at the jock across from her. "You get your hand off of her right now," She spat at him. "You so much as lay a finger on my girlfriend again, and you won't have any fingers left. Same goes for you." She added, to the guy next to her.

They were up in an instant, but hadn't backed away from the table yet. Their hands were raised in surrender, as if they didn't think they'd done anything wrong.

"What are you waiting for? A formal eviction from the premises? I can call security if that's what you want." Santana was still brandishing her steak-knife wondering if Breadstix even had security. "We're not gonna change our minds, Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce are off the market."

"_Crazy bitches_." She heard one of them mutter as they turned and bailed.

"Tell your friends!" Brittany called after them, cheerfully.

Santana dropped the knife onto the table with a clatter, and put her head in her hands. "Oh, don't worry, they will. They'll tell _all_ their little friends that those two Cheerios are hooking up. The whole school will know by the time summer's over."

Brittany reached across the table for Santana's hand, "Hey, that's their problem, not ours. I'm just happy that my girlfriend stood up for me."

"I'll always protect you. You know that." Santana said softly, with a smile.

Brittany nodded, "You always have."


End file.
